Exchanging Favours: The Predominance of Casework in Legislators' Behaviour in Jordan and Lebanon

Abstract

Responsiveness to constituents' demands and needs is considered an essential element of representation. Responsiveness takes several forms – service, allocation (casework), policies, and symbolic responses – and legislators usually respond to constituents using a combination of these means. However, this article discusses a category of Jordanian and Lebanese legislators, called ‘Favours legislators’, who respond to their constituents only through casework. These legislators use all tools available to them (party/parliamentary bloc, bureaucracy, and fellow legislators) to improve their access to services important to successful casework. Favours legislators assume that by providing a successful favour, constituents who received the favour will reciprocate in kind and vote and/or encourage others to vote for them.

Keywords:

• casework
• legislatures
• Arab
• responsiveness
• constituents
• reciprocity

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the editor of JLS and two anonymous readers for their helpful comments.

Notes

The Ombudsman is an official organisation that addresses citizens' complaints regarding public service provision.

For more details on the methods used to study casework, refer to Johannes (1983).

According to the CIA World Factbook (2009), Lebanon's population is 59.7 per cent Muslim (including Shi'a, Sunni, Druze, and other Muslim groups), 39 per cent Christian, and 1.3 per cent other religions. The Lebanese government recognises 17 religious sects. Ethnically the country is predominantly Arab (95 per cent), with 4 per cent of the population being Armenian and 1 per cent being of other ethnicities. Found at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/le.html.

The author was not able to obtain information on the educational level of three legislators, hence, the total is not 100 per cent.

Wasta is an Arabic term that refers to the intervention of an influential person on behalf of someone less influential in an effort to open doors or decrease barriers for the less influential individual. This term often has a negative connotation of favouritism.

Hajj is the Islamic pilgrimage ritual where Muslims travel to Mecca. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia usually allocates a limited number of visas for visitors during the pilgrimage.

While some legislators use the private sector to satisfy their constituents, this was rarely mentioned by the legislators interviewed in this study. Some wealthy legislators can use their own resources and institutions to help constituents, which is the case in Lebanon with Saed El Hariri, who owns a large number of free medical clinics.

Candidates usually form a coalition and run on one list to gain from each other's voters bases or from that of one or two very popular leaders.

Voters vote for candidates in their districts no matter what their sects are.

Jordanian parliamentary results for the 2003 elections. Found at: http://www.parliament.jo/App/Public/Member/ViewA.asp?Company_ID=38.